19 December 2008

Over at Myrmecos Blog, Alex Wild has a set of his best insect pictures of 2008. I thought that was a great idea. So, I went thru the hundreds and hundreds of snail and slug photographs I have taken this year and selected what I think are the best 10, although there were several more equally good ones.

Most of my selections have already been on this blog. Here they are not in any particular order.

Eobania vermiculata crawling up a plant stem. This species was the subject of this post.

Gastrocopta contracta with its always dirty shell. This 2.4 mm-long snail was featured in this post. This picture was actually taken on 31 December 2007. I had to relax the "rules" for one day to include it in this batch.

Zebrina detrita crawling on dew covered grass. Photographed last October near Kastamonu, Turkey. The picture was used in this post.

Pomatiopsis lapidaria underwater This is one of those species that can't decide whether to be an aquatic or a terrestrial snail. It was the subject of this post. I put this snail in water to observe its behavior. It went to the edge of the container and immediately started crawling up. Obviously, it wasn't too happy about being in water. This picture shows it as it was attempting to get a hold of the side wall of the container.

Cochlicopa lubrica deep inside its shell As you can see, the snail can withdraw its body more than a whorl away from the aperture.

Chondrus zebra making a sharp turn Another species from Turkey. The significance of this picture is that it shows how short the snail's foot is compared to its shell.

Arion subfuscus eating a mushrooom. This slug, originally from Europe, is a naturalized denizen of North America. The large circular hole is the slug's pneumostome, the breathing hole that leads into its lung. I used this picture previously in this post.

A pair of Oxyloma retusa mating These snails were the subjects of this post.

Oxyloma retusa laying eggs Yes, they are among my favorite snails. More info in this post.

Last but not least, a Triodopsis struggling to free itself from the caliper jaws I thought this picture was a fitting tribute to my favorite leisure time activity: measuring snail shells.

Aydin, I came over here from Alex's site (myrmecos) - nice photos. I think my favorite is Oxyloma retusa laying eggs. Pomatiopsis lapidaria underwater is also great - you can almost see the terrified expression in its "face".regards -- ted

Sorry to stray off-topic ... but I was wondering whether you have any familiarity with the Tylomelania spp. (Cerithioidea: Pachychilidae) of Lake Matano and the Malili lakes in Sulawesi.

They (along with the beautiful Caridina shrimp of these lakes) have proven to be a hit in the European and more recently American aquarium trade (see here, here, and here), and captive breeding has already been reported.